FCS draft buzz builds as Opta updates 2026 prospect rankings

Bryce Lance has the look of the FCS player most likely to force his way into the national draft conversation again, and the timing could not be better. With the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh from April 23-26, Opta’s updated prospect work put Lance back at the center of the subdivision’s class, while North Dakota State teammate Cole Payton, South Dakota State and Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski, Stephen F. Austin cornerback Charles Demmings and Southeastern Louisiana defensive tackle Kaleb Proctor all remained names scouts are circling for a late climb.

The appeal starts with traits that translate. Lance opened the year as the top FCS prospect and backed it with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, then turned heads at the combine with a 4.34-second 40-yard dash. Payton added a 4.56 in the 40 and earned Senior Bowl Player of the Game honors, the kind of testing and all-star-week production that can change how teams view an FCS quarterback. In a class Josh Buchanan said was “thinned out big time by the portal,” those kinds of measurable wins matter even more.

That thinning did not leave the subdivision empty. It made the top end easier to isolate, and Opta’s updated view reflects the players who can still move boards in the final stretch. Lance remains the cleanest bet to become the next FCS name selected higher than expected, because he combines proven production with verified speed. Payton has the next-best path if teams buy the athletic profile and the Senior Bowl showing. Gronowski enters the conversation as a quarterback with name recognition and a transfer pedigree that will keep him on evaluators’ radars, while Demmings and Proctor fit the type of day-three risers who can gain ground on positional value and workouts.

The broader FCS draft picture is still strong enough to fuel optimism. Fifteen FCS players were selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, the most since 2022 and the second-most since 2018, and the subdivision has produced 198 draft picks from 2013 through 2025. The only years without double-digit FCS draftees in that span were 2020 and 2021. Another recent Opta review showed 23 of 74 FCS selections across the previous six drafts were offensive linemen, which helps explain why Grey Zabel’s first-round leap in 2025, the first FCS player taken in Round 1 since 2022 and the highest-drafted offensive lineman in FCS history, still looms so large over this class.

Stats Perform’s FCS coverage now stretches across all 128 programs in 13 leagues, and its January banquet plus the night before the national championship have turned the subdivision into a year-round pipeline. That steady spotlight has made the 2026 class easier to track and harder to ignore, with Lance leading the group most likely to turn testing numbers and production into an earlier-than-expected call in Pittsburgh.